Democratic incumbent Mike McIntyre did not seek re-election in 2014. Because of this, North Carolina's 7th District presented an opportunity for the Republican Party to gain a U.S. House seat. In the 2012 presidential election, Mitt Romney (R) led President Barack Obama (D) in the 7th District by 19 percent, demonstrating that Republicans made up a large portion of the voting population.[4] Although McIntyre had been in office since 1997, he only narrowly defeated Rouzer in 2012 by 0.2 percent.[5][6] Rouzer ran for the seat again in 2014 and was ultimately successful in defeating Barfield and Casteen in the November general election. The Cook Political Report rated this open seat as "Likely Republican."[7] One factor that gave Rouzer an advantage in this election was the amount of money that he had raised in campaign contributions. As of the Pre-Primary FEC report, Barfield had only $4,317.84 in cash on hand compared with Rouzer's $275,401.71.

Both Rouzer and Barfield faced opposition in the May 6, 2014, primary election, but neither primary was exceptionally competitive.[8]

Candidate Filing Deadline

Primary Election

General Election

February 28, 2014

May 6, 2014

November 4, 2014

Primary: North Carolina is one of 21 states with a mixed primary system. Parties decide who may vote in their respective primaries. Voters may choose a primary ballot without impacting their unaffiliated status.[9]

Voter registration: To vote in the primary, voters had to register by April 11, 2014. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 10, 2014 (25 days before the day of the election).[10]

Race background

Before announcing that he would not run for re-election, incumbent Mike McIntyre (D) was one of seven early targets listed by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in the 2014 congressional elections.[17] The seven targets aligned perfectly with the seven most Republican districts currently held by Democrats, according to FairVote's partisanship index. McIntyre's district ranked as the most Republican (38 percent Democratic).[18]

Republican David Rouzer -- who narrowly lost to McIntyre in 2012 -- ran again for election to the seat.[20] The National Republican Congressional Committee added David Rouzer to their "On the Radar" list in November 2013. According to the NRCC, candidates that made this list received "...the tools they need to run successful, winning campaigns against their Democratic opponents."[21] In March 2014, Rouzer was included on the NRCC's "Young Guns" list.[22]

Government shutdown

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201.[25] At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference.[26]Mike McIntyre voted in favor of the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.[27]

The shutdown ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.[28] The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. Mike McIntyre voted for HR 2775.[29]